Anyone else feel less "attached" to video games?

I remember when I was younger and Rome Total War came out, the game consumed me. I played it constantly, talked about it with my friends, and looked forward to it each day. There grew a sense of attachment to the game and it became a part of my life.

However as time went on, games became cheaper and I became busier. I obtain new games MUCH more than before (several a year) and my consumption of them has become more akin to movies. I play through a game, enjoy the story/experience, and put it down. I might think back on it later on, but there is much less attachment to each game. Part of this could be due to the fact that I have become more attracted to single player experiences with your traditional 8-12 hour campaigns, but even playing the Witcher 3, a 100+ hour experience, wasn't as engrossing as my gaming when I was younger.

Anyone else feel this same way? Just wanted to put this out here as I'm feeling nostalgic for my older gaming days.

Honestly, this felt like one big thing that made MMOs a lot of fun for me (for a while -- when you get near the end and it starts to become a grind, the fun goes away). You can chat with all these people playing the same game.

Obviously lots of games have online multiplayer, but in most, it's difficult to form long term connections with people. MMOs with concepts like guilds make it waaaay easier. Also, you can actually become friends with these people. I find that most multiplayer games don't necessarily expose you to the same people often enough nor give you incentives to. MMOs you can be exposed to the same people over and over for weeks or months. You become closer. While they're not quite the same as local friends, it's definitely a step up from internet strangers.

But real life friends are definitely the best. I pretty much only play Overwatch with my partner. It's not as fun on my own. I like having someone always with me that I can chat with about everything that happens. Also, she's a pretty darn good Mercy (when I play solo, I find that I have to heal much more often, since seemingly nobody else goes for it).

I'm starting to feel like I'm becoming a virtual reality shill, but honestly VR has completely rejuvenated my love for gaming. I felt exactly the same as you. Part of it is becoming an adult.

Once when I was complaining to my dad about how movies and music just doesn't seem to be as good as they used to, and he told me, that's because you have more to compare it against. It just gets worse with age.

That said, virtual reality is completely game-changing (pun intended). I'm experiencing a thrill with gaming I haven't had since playing Sonic, Mario 64, and Halo for the first time. There are times where I literally am pumped full of adrenaline because of how immersive certain situations are in VR games.

I was gonna post the same thing about VR gaming, but instead i'll just upvote this. It is the most amazing thing I've done in years, and totally changed my interest in games. I thought I was done getting the rush of a new amazing experiences like the first time I played link to the past, Marion 64 or Halo system link. It just blows my mind every time I play.

Once when I was complaining to my dad about how movies and music just doesn't seem to be as good as they used to, and he told me, that's because you have more to compare it against. It just gets worse with age.

I really think that is the issue at hand here, at least for me. I started playing video games on an atari 2600 and a TRS-80. Sometime around 7 years ago, nothing more really interested me like it did before.

Game graphics didn't really get a whole lot better. We just got more affects added that honestly, I don't like and usually turn off. Great story lines from games like Deus Ex just got worse with each new sequel, or just rehashed with a new game mechanic and setting, or just abandoned all together. New IP's are hit and miss, and become more of the same, mainly in the triple A titles.

Everything has just become a huge production where money and profit over ride a proper finished game. Sure that was always the case, but it really causes developers to churn out the same thing over and over because it's safe. It really follows the movie analogy in a more condensed time frame.

About VR, I hope it takes off, it is still in its infancy and don't want it to go the way of 3D. I don't currently have a set or have used one but I do plan on it in the future for sim racing, and hopefully more.

Somehow sequels to favourite game rarely re ignite that spark. Any metroid game not Super Metroid hasn't hooked me like it did. Or a new castlevania. And maybe not fully ames but good examples: No Zero escape game past the first has hooked me. No Ace Attorney game past the trilogy hooked. But then, I played a new game from the same creator, ghost trick, and suddenly it captured a similar feeling as the first time I played ace Attorney. It seems like to get the same experience we used to have, we need something different with a similar philosophy to reignite that spark.

It might be that to get that Deus Ex spark, you'd need to stumble upon it in an entirely different franchise.

games have changed drastically since we were young and new to the gaming experience

The first game that made me emotional was FFVI then soon after, Chrono Trigger. I was a young teen when I played those, so I was developing emotionally and puberty was a huge pair of shades. Using final fantasy as an example, that shit was close to my heart up until FFX. I loved FFX and 100%ed it, but that was the last one. They changed so much after that. I got into XII, but never finished it because I didn't get emotionally involved. Then I played XIII and liked the gameplay but didn't really follow the story that well nor did it get my blood boiling. In fact, I finished the game not even knowing I was fighting the last boss! Very disappointing. Now, I don't care about even trying FFXV because I've lost faith in their ability to stroke my nuggets.

Even though The Last of Us had fairly repetitive gameplay, I played through it three times because the story got me so emotionally involved that I thought about it during my smoke breaks at work. I never talked games with people because I was always the only one playing them. For me, it has nothing to do with joining a community. It has everything to do with the approach developers eventually go toward, and I can't blame them, which is money.

Too many factors to consider, but yeah, I think it's a normal phenomenon to have become less attached to games along the line. You're not alone.

They changed so much after that. I got into XII, but never finished it because I didn't get emotionally involved. Then I played XIII and liked the gameplay but didn't really follow the story that well nor did it get my blood boiling.

To be fair, I felt like those games were really missing something (I say this as a huuuuge FF fan -- played all the numbered ones except XI). XII suffered from really bland characters. The settings were great, but FF games are normally very character driven. I loved the gameplay, but the story disappointed me. FFXIII was the opposite. The story was great, but the gameplay was extremely on wheels for too long and got boring at times. The sequels fixed that a bit (but lost a bit on the story front).

I recently replayed X and it was still pretty great. Not as fun as the first time, but I attribute that largely to predictability and less patience. I sorta-100%ed it. Skipped monster arena and dark aeons because they would need a very not-fun grind and I don't care about monster gauntlets.

games have changed drastically since we were young and new to the gaming experience

One could say the exact opposite as well: games have not changed. The core gameplay loops are basically the same. New genres aren't really being born. Marketing has saturated the industry so thoroughly that it has become risk-averse.

I know the brothers who started a major game development studio in the early 90s. They would tell you that their goal was to create awesome experiences. Money was a means to an end. This adventurous mentality exists in indie studios but no longer significantly influences the big players. It's an industry which bends to the goals of publishers and outside influences. Those indie studios generally don't have the resources to be ambitious.

Cynical 40 year old family men could get those tingles of excitement from new and novel experiences. We could get them losing track of time and staying up til 5 a.m. again. It would require games to innovate.

I think there will be more breakthroughs. There will be a "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones" of gaming sometime in the next decade. Perhaps Star Citizen will achieve it. If not, something will be released that is so exciting that it will have gamers calling up their friends and getting them to try it out.

I felt that way too about gaming, the guilty part. I’d hear people discussing what they were doing over the weekend and get jealous that those things either a) didn’t interest me or b) I couldn’t do for one reason or another. Then I’d feel guilty about playing video games like they are some lesser way to spend my time. Then I realized that way of thinking is bullshit. We could all be doing something else that someone may persevere as a better use of your time. In the end though its you that needs to make the decision. I like to play video games as a way to unwind and get away fro m my daily life. I have higher priorities as far as my wife/home/job are concerned but I use video games as my rest. It keeps things in balance. Maybe you have other interests and hobbies, that’s fine too! In our busy world we forget to take a little time for ourselves and just relax. Don’t let it consume you, but enjoy it and don’t let anyone ever tell you there is something “better” you could be doing.

Note that it's also a multibillion dollar industry. People always equate playing games to wasted time that doesn't teach you anything, I disagree. I personally know people who have made it big streaming on twitch, and because I've become so attached to video games and the culture surrounding them my new career goal is to find a way to get paid doing what I love.

Preach!! I'm 27 and all through my childhood I played games a lot. Everyone was like oh you'll grow out of it you'll grow out of it. Grow out of what exactly? Obviously now that I'm married and have a kid and have a job and go to school and have a house (presses barrell against eardrum) I only get to play like maybe an hour a day if at all. Usually one fruatrating comp match of overwatch is about all I can get. But its still something im into, I still read about it all the time, I still look forward to it.

We were with friends the other night and they started ripping on me because I play games and I'm a nerd sitting at a computer with headphones on and all that. So I asked what did you do last saturday. Oh nothing just hung out watched football. So if I sat on the couch drank beers and watched tv thats an acceptable use of my time? Then they say well we invite you to come out and you always blow us off, probably to play videogames. No bitch I stay at home because I'm fucking tired and I dont enjoy your company all that much when all you do is shit on the only hobby I have time for.

I always prioritize my time, and while you are right, I am still managing to fit games in during the decompression time after work, and also weekends. But I used to ditch friends, parties, events because they were uncomfortable and come home to play video games. I've gotten better about having time for people.

Play VR, it changed everything about gaming for me. I've always played games. I'm 32, married for 5 years with 2 dogs a house and a 1 year old. It's the most amazing thing i've played in decades. Playing through Farpoint in PSVR is up there with playing a link to the past, mario 64, Halo system link, and WOW for the first time. When my son goes to sleep at night I put my headset on and leave this world for a while. Anyone that feels burned out on games needs to play a real VR game on a real VR headset(not a cell phone).

Side note: As to feeling guilty; I get it, I do. But the point of a hobby is to spend some time chilling doing something you enjoy. Time to yourself is always important and hobbies aren't suppose to be productive. The generation before us spread the mindset that videogames are "SUCH A HUGE WASTE OF TIME!!". It's a hobby, it's to chill out for a while and destress. There's nothing productive about fishing, bird watching, going to a movie, watching football(half or more of America becomes useless sat/sun watching football.).. Hobbies aren't meant to be productive. They are like a mental massage, and they are good.

It's weird I'm in a transition where I don't feel passionate about games anymore. Now my passion is writing, reading, my research, my education, my friends, etc. I just can't be bothered to get into some overly complex game and learn the ins and outs of it. There are a bunch I've looked at and even a few I've tried but I also just go "this isn't streamlined enough I don't have time to do the literal research required to play this." It's hard to find a game that is straightforward enough to be easy to pick up but complex enough to have replayability.

I've started a game called Thea: The Awakening. It's pretty great so far, highly replayable. Only a little frustrating because of the difficulty curve. But otherwise fairly straightforward in execution but complex in play.

I actually feel the opposite way. The older I get, the less time I want to spend with other people. 80% of time they just become more boring, with variations of same problems and goals. Maybe I'm just not an outgoing type, I easily get tired from human interactions.

Games still remain one of my default pastimes, but as a game developer, I play in much more analytical way than before, sometimes spending more time thinking than actually playing.

It happened to me at around 30, when I found myself seeking other interests beyond games. I still play a lot of them but it's not longer the almost religious affair it used to be. Case in point: Back during my teenage years I couldn't peel myself from games and would blatantly neglect school work which ended up causing me problems in the long run, I was one of those kids that almost every teacher would describe as "He's intelligent, but lacks focus", and note the use of "almost every" as I used to ace every single computer class with basically zero effort.

These days, I've re-enrolled in university and actually look forward to having the opportunity to learn something new. When I first began I was very nervous about whether I'd be able to cut it, and found it surprising when things started out smoothly, all I needed to do was put the time and effort in.

As others have already mentioned, I simply chalk it up to growing up and facing the realities of adult life head-on.

It feels so passionless to me. You know how you can tell when a musician is only in it for the money?

That's how it is for me, but for gaming. There are still some developers that seem to have some integrity left, but all this loot box-micro transaction-season pass-gold edition bullshit has me so tired of the game industry.

I lost interest in video games for several months. I just kind of went and did different stuff for a while. Watching more television, studying extra hard in school. This spring, I got Hollow Knight and Night in the Woods, two games I'd been looking forwards to for a long time that had just released on Steam. I binge played both over the course of about a week and suddenly I was into gaming again.

All I can really say is that taking a break seemed to help a lot. You may have just gotten burnt out on gaming. If you haven't tried to already, stop playing video games for a while. Go watch some shows you're interested in but never saw. Spend some of the time you'd normally game learning to write, play an instrument, or whatever skill you'd like to learn. Just find non-gaming hobbies for a couple months. Come back when you see a game that really catches your eye and you absolutely have to play it.

sometimes it takes that one game too. i got kicked out of uni, tried to start a budding music career, and between getting rejected and trying to market myself i just got burnt out of everything, so last week i put on MGSV and my immediate reaction was "why did i ever stop playing this". i'd completed the story, 50% overall completion (and i don't have the patience for being completionist ((plus i'm shit at games))) and i just got fully stuck in like i'd never played it before in my life, now i'm hooked playing Inside and Super Hot and i'm looking at buying Hitman and all this shit. i think the problem with gaming is that getting good at games doesn't lead to anything except being able to play a lot more games without frustration, and unless you go out of your way you can't turn it into anything, whereas with something like music or art or academics it's easy to be like "i'm getting burnt out but i'm also getting good as fuck at this". it's not until you turn off the boring, senile piece of shit button do you get back into it and realise i'd probably happily starve to death playing metal gear solid for 3 weeks straight.

I had this with music. All music sounded boring and grating to me for a while. But then I took a break, and also came back with a more open mindset (I should try to appriciate what it offers instead of trying to get from it what I want/expect) and I started to really enjoy it again.

As a kid, I was a loner nerd. I spent all my spare time gaming. I would invest hundreds of hours into the right game. I replayed Mario 3 and Sonic 1 & 2 endlessly. Doom once we got a family PC in the mid 90's, oh god the hours lost. Daggerfall is probably my most-played game in history, even including MMOs (hi /r/gatekeeping you Morrowind fans are just hipsters jumping on the bandwagon!). Half-Life I beat nonstop and kept replaying, then we got dialup internet and I could play them Quake games multiplayer and start with Half-Life mods. Every game I would put dozens if not hundreds of hours into.

Around 15 years ago, I entered fulltime employment. I'm still a loner nerd. I still spend most of my spare time gaming. But now I spend way less on any given game. I have my go-tos, games I can always return to once in a while, but it's usually online games with either a competitive element or longterm progression system to invest in. My most played games on Steam are Payday 2, but that's way less from feeling an attachment to the games themselves, more from that investment.

My overall tastes have shifted radically and I think I know why. I used to be a huge sucker for RPGs I could lose myself in for days, or incredibly strong narrative games. Now I prefer things that can be played in much shorter bursts, or that are more round-based or otherwise lessen the push for close attention. Online multiplayer games with rounds, roguelikes with runs, even Souls games that I can just push to the next bonfire in an hour, or alternatively the kind of sandbox game that lets you set your own goals and do them in your own time. Narrative games and heavy time investment games have fallen by the wayside. The weird thing is, it's not that my routines have changed. I still often find myself playing for hours a night. One thing that has changed is that I now often do a second activity while I play. I'll do a couple of Binding of Isaac runs whilst listening to a podcast, or a Payday heist while watching an episode of a TV show on my second monitor.

That's really the key to it for me. The rise of new media that we can selectively watch at will, combined with the quality hike of longform TV, mean they're competing for my time and a portion of my attention. I've been watching Star Trek Discovery while floating around in Subnautica. I played hours of Battlefront ($5 deal yea) while finally getting around to the last season of Hannibal. I've done endless Payday 2 heists in my push for Infamy level 10 whilst listening to a back catalogue episodes of MBMBAM. I'm was planning to grind out dem Overwatch Halloween lootboxes while rewatching Stranger Things in preparation for season 2 now, but instead Shadow of War stole all my attention and has become my companion to the rewatch.

I do think there's another factor though, no longer being in a position where I'm lucky to get 4-5 games all year and can instead buy several a month plus Humble Monthly's grabbag plus maybe a couple of other bundles? I'm swimming in games. I no longer have to make do wringing the most I can from any given gaming experience and can experiment and sample from a massive platter. That's definitely a factor in why I no longer tend to heavily invest in one single game.

I'm 28 and been a dad for just over a year but my farewell to games started when I was 23. From the time I was 6 until 23 I always had atleast a couple of friends I gamed with daily. And we would talk about gaming at school.

I'm highschool and college I had a big group of gaming buddies and we played some stuff competitively. At this time I began to buy more games. This close knit gaming lasted until I was about 23.

From 21-23 friends started graduating and everyone was generally growing further apart. We were all finding new friends and hobbies and starting careers and families. At this time even I graduated and started my career but I was buying the most games of my life at this time. I also met my wife at this time.

When we moved in together I still gamed a few nights out of the week but me and my friends were no longer playing the same games and when we did it felt like a chore to keep up to date on the metas and general grind.

Then I had a kid and I stopped gaming. I did get into photography. Others are right we get older and our free time is more precious to us. With photography I can grab the camera almost everytime we go out and get some awesome shots, without interfering with family time.

It's more than that. I couldn't even enjoy them by myself or with the few friends that still played. If my son wants to play games when he's older I'll have plenty to show him. But I myself have closed that chapter of my life.

To me games haven't changed since the mid 2000s. We're still having the same mechanics and styles of gameplay. The same tropes and story telling devices, not much has changed in fact I feel it's gotten worse with the ridiculous amount of hand holding in games and over use of common tropes and themes.

I finished my backlog and haven't bought a new game since. My gaming bucket list is complete until when and if that fire is rekindled by something incredibly new.

The sheer amount of options diminishes the value of a given game in a collection.

This was the same for me with AoE II nearly 15 years ago. It came pre-installed on a new laptop and I had no access to other games. I played it for hours. Additionally when I first played WoW I had 1 day off a week from a standing job (and shifts sometimes meant I had to walk/bike a few miles to/from in various weather).

So on my one free day I slept in then played that game with only a little time other days. A ten hour shift plus another hour travel meant I got home, made dinner, and pretty much crashed. But WoW was there on my day off. And it was unlike anything to which I had been previously exposed. Member berries, ya know?

Yes it was fun to play with my friends at the gaming clubs but everything moved on. Though I had a 4-5 years period being into SP games only... But now I rarely play games without communicating with people... it just gets boring. So now I mainly play Planetside 2 and my outfit(equal to guild in other MMOs) often can get at least 5 ppl on TeamSpeak(in busy weekends can get up to 20) and enjoyment just increases 10fold over the solo experience.

So my attachment to games exist while there are people I can talk with about said games.

Yup. I used to play more games than I do now, but now I spend a higher amount of time in a single game that has been my goto game for the last couple of years, League of Legends, and this is due to the exact same thing. Coordinating to play a specific single player game with friends to then talk about it is very complicated, but sharing this specific game is much easier. I rarely play solo, in fact, because my biggest enjoyment is sharing this game and the experiences with my fiends and girlfriend.

Well coordinating to play a SP can be tough but I found out for myself that I can just share my experience with a freshly released game(say Agents of Mayhem) who were interested in the game but didnt want to pull the trigger.

Still sharing the playtime with other people is just so much better(cant play Divinity Original Sin games alone for example)

I still love games but my interested started to wane when japan's interest started to wane in console JRPGs as they were the main thing I played growing up. Also the moe direction most JRPGs have gone in has been rather depressing. I played Trails in the Sky and loved every second. I played Trails of Cold Steel and found it unbelievably uninspired in comparison (plus much more poorly written). But hey at least Dark Souls is good (puts shield up before everyone comes and attacks me for calling it a JRPG).

I say this because I'm still passionate about anime (well the good ones) and certain cartoons (really enjoyed duck tales first episode). So I don't want to say for sure its the fault of me growing out of them completely.

For me I think it's the sheer number of games available and the constant barrage of information about them that sort of cheapens the experience.

When I was a kid I bought one or maybe two games a year, and I had to save up for them. I found out about new games either from advertisements on TV or through magazines like EGM. Since those were the only sources of info I spent plenty of time imagining what a new game would be like. By the time I saved enough money and bought it my own hype level was off the charts and I'd play that one game for months.

Nowadays with the way games are everywhere and the proliferation of indie games, it is literally nothing to acquire a new game. In fact I acquire them in packs of 5 or 10 or more via humble bundle for pennies on the dollar. Some I play, most I don't. I have heard everything there is to hear about most titles well before they are released. Games are playable before they are finished.

I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say. But I feel like when games were a bit less attainable and had a little more mystery around them, it was easier to become absorbed in their worlds. Nowadays they're becoming a commodity item.

It's when your mind set on other stuff and you realize a lot of your time is going to something that, even though you enjoy it a lot, can't be as rewarding as other things that you can do in life - we all crave real people's company and interaction in some way or another - and at some points the games take too much time getting towards those things. Your mind has gone to another place mate, and it is a good thing overall.

I remember being (still am) very attached to the original Dead Space in 2008. I was only 10 when it came out but eventually I played that game to relax as I got older. I don't get nearly as attached to games or franchises as much as I used to.

Not at all... in fact, with the grand myriad of games coming out in this era, often I'll play something and thing "wow, it's nice that a developer has made something very specifically for me in terms of themes or gameplay elements."

That, and the fact that there are more local co-op games around than ever before means more fun-with-friends connections that we can bond over. A halcyon era, as far as I'm concerned...!

I've had the same thing happen to me, but I honestly like it. Rather than playing one game for a long time, I enjoy playing a multitude of games in different generas. While I may not get as attached to each individual one, I like the diversity of experience that I get by playing a lot of different ones.

Gaming isn’t the same since all my Air Force buddies dropped off Xbox Live over the years.

Back in 2002-2003 we used to do 16 player LAN parties on the OG Xbox. Four or five nights a week we’d have CAT-5 running all over the barracks. We’d BBQ and drink, and when it got too dark to toss a football around we’d all head inside for some Killtaculars.

By 2004 my duty station was using Halo Tournaments for squadron fundraisers. Microsoft had donated thousands of green Xboxes for barracks all through the US armed forces. It was a really neat time.

As I finished up my service I stayed in touch with friend on Xbox Live (this was before Facebook!) and we continued playing Halo 2 and Crimson Skys and the old Rainbow Six games. It was awesome.

Then, one by one they just fell off. They got married, started families, let Xbox accounts expire, forgot each other’s gamer tags... just kind of drifted away.

There was a time when all of my Xbox Live friends were real-life friends and coworkers. Now they’re all strangers that I met in Destiny LFG sites.

It's partly growing up, it's also partly due to the fact that the gamer identity is a corporate construction which has been foisted on you without your knowledge or consent and you are starting to feel its limitations.

i feel like gaming period is just becoming smaller. Theres fewer games out there with large active playerbases.

This is in part due to there just being so many games to choose from now, but also in part to that games dont really have the replayability or quality that they used to have.

Everything is about lootboxes and achievements now, and once people got their loot and achievements they get bored of the game and move on.

I'm sure our age also plays a factor though. Playing simcity for the first time was awesome there was so much to learn and do and build. Now city building games feel very limited and basic as theres nothing really new to learn or get out of it, it's the same stuff with updated visuals.

Youth typically creates a perfect storm for what OP is talking about; getting attached to games.

You're poor, so you probably only buy 1 or 2 games a year or get them for birthdays and holidays.

You have a surplus of time, so you spend a lot of time with those games. On top of that, you aren't as mechanically adept as an adult yet so some of the games are really tough for you, necessitating more time spent.

You have fewer memories so the memories you form are more poignant.

I think most people know all about that though, that's why we have phrases like 'rose colored glasses' and so on.

So all that aside, yes I do feel like more often games and game developers and publishers realize that the market has grown, and the odds of you spending a lot of time on their game is slim. There are more games to consume so concordantly each game gets less time. Some developers therefore put less effort into the little things to make their game charming and memorable.

Personally I still try to seek out the games with charm, often indie games, so that I can form attachments. I think fewer of the big publishers are making an effort to release games with lasting appeal, but there are a lot of middle to small developers still doing it. And games like Witcher 3 still come out now and then which, at least for me, are very memorable.

Since companies have been screwing IPs for maximum profit and wider audiences, I had to let go. Why get invested into something that would be a souless cashgrab. Also there are thousands of games being made nowadays, with a thousand hidden gems and indie games that are suited for me. There is also mods emulators and people who keep up servers of old online games so you can re live some nostalgia. Not too bothered by my lessening investment into videogames as I have other priorities I want to put into but I still keep up with them as much as I can.